Stage VI users

Posted By: rebel

Stage VI users - 05/11/14 02:48 AM

just checking in with members who use the Mopar Stage VI heads.
have you had any issues with the valve stem design how the spring seems to be floating in oil & the valve stem seal has to be perfect or it leaks down the stem & gets sucked into the intake?
i've had a few sets of Indy heads but i now have a set of Stage VI's that came on an engine i bought. i had an issue with the RH bank smoking a bit & traced to the valve stem seals had come loose which allowed oil to leak down the intake valve stem.
to fix it i got creative with the die grinder & reshaped the area around the valve spring seats so the oil could escape quicker. has anybody else done this? i'm kinda at a loss to understand why someone would design a head like this, but i'm sure what i've done will reduce the chances of a recurring failure. also everytime i removed the valve cover, oil would instantly dribble down onto the headers, what were they thinking?
they started looking like this...

Attached picture 8140450-2014-05-1014.00.26.jpg

Attached picture 8140450-2014-05-1014.00.26.jpg

Posted By: rebel

Re: Stage VI users - 05/11/14 02:49 AM

bit of a grind later they looked like this...

Attached picture 8140452-2014-05-1014.00.35.jpg

Posted By: rebel

Re: Stage VI users - 05/11/14 02:50 AM

with a bit of a tidy n some polishing they finished up like this.,,,

Attached picture 8140454-2014-05-1112.33.25.jpg

Posted By: MR_P_BODY

Re: Stage VI users - 05/11/14 03:17 AM

We have to do the same thing on the SB W-5 heads

Posted By: rebel

Re: Stage VI users - 05/11/14 03:23 AM

did they have the same idiot designer?

Posted By: MR_P_BODY

Re: Stage VI users - 05/11/14 03:41 AM

Quote:

did they have the same idiot designer?

Yep

Posted By: TRENDZ

Re: Stage VI users - 05/11/14 04:33 AM

the castings were designed for a longer valve. the machining to make them fit standard length valves is where the problems start to happen. Pretty much anyone assembling these heads does that before they ever make it onto an engine. Whoever you got it from should have known better. The raw casting has much more potential than the machined version.

Posted By: rebel

Re: Stage VI users - 05/11/14 08:48 AM

Quote:

the castings were designed for a longer valve. the machining to make them fit standard length valves is where the problems start to happen. Pretty much anyone assembling these heads does that before they ever make it onto an engine. Whoever you got it from should have known better. The raw casting has much more potential than the machined version.

care to share any other tips with these heads before i reassemble them?
i guy i bought the engine from didn't come across as the brightest crayon in the box but the guy who assembled this engine was a total muppet. i'm learning as i go but i'm more familia with Indy heads, not these strangely engineered items.

Posted By: Oyvind Mopar

Re: Stage VI users - 05/11/14 12:48 PM

Lap the valves, it will show up any faults with seats/valves not being concentric. My

Posted By: Chris'sBarracuda

Re: Stage VI users - 05/11/14 01:13 PM

I had a set before my B1's.
They were done by Don Studley.
Precision Cylinder Head in So. Cal. (R.I.P. DON)

Don was an awesome cylinder head guy, especially Mopars.

When I took him my set of Stage 6's he just laughed and said
" What do you want me to do with this sh!t"??
I asked him to do his best..
Well, Don did.. Cussing all the way through them..
He put longer valves in them so the spring pockets weren't so deep . He also cut drain backs in all of them to fight your same problem.
Don got 360 cfm out of these on
his stingy bench.
My ET's were in line with the possible HP with these heads.
9.20's @ 144 in Phoenix at 3000# and a glide.
As one poster said. These heads can be made to work well in the right hands.
He also cut the rocker stands down to use Max Wedge style aluminum blocks to get the best geometry..
These were Max Wedge ports.. 502" low deck.

Wish I still had them and Don was still here too.

Chris..

Posted By: Mr.Yuck

Re: Stage VI users - 05/11/14 06:25 PM

hummm

next time I have the valve covers off I'll have to look and see if mine were cleaned up like that. However I can let the car sit for weeks/months and I get no "crop dusting" Looks nice

Posted By: Hutch

Re: Stage VI users - 05/12/14 06:45 AM

I cut several notches in mine which helps to get the oil from the pocket but the entire head still has a bad tendency to fill up with oil and smoke at times. Next time its apart , some external drain hoses or maybe even a dry sump system will be installed to control it.

Hutch

Posted By: TheBlackCar

Re: Stage VI users - 05/12/14 07:21 PM

Don't mean to hijack, but anyone have any chamber pics for their stage 6 heads?

Thanks, Jeff

Posted By: dragram440

Re: Stage VI users - 05/12/14 10:08 PM

I just ground notches into the pockets so the oil drains out. I have never had any issues. These heads seem to be working ok for me. I am happy with the performance.

Posted By: TRENDZ

Re: Stage VI users - 05/13/14 02:02 AM

don't try to run harland/sharp rockers on them. No standard valve cover will fit over them.

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Posted By: BloFish

Re: Stage VI users - 05/13/14 02:39 AM

Harland Sharps here, no problem with these covers

Posted By: Bill MeLater

Re: Stage VI users - 05/13/14 03:15 AM

Quote:

Don't mean to hijack, but anyone have any chamber pics for their stage 6 heads?

Thanks, Jeff

Mine look like this. They will definitely receive some attention before seeing service.

Attached picture 8142730-100_8959.JPG

Posted By: Bill MeLater

Re: Stage VI users - 05/13/14 03:17 AM

By the way they are max wedge. Here's the casting number.

Attached picture 8142733-100_8960.JPG

Posted By: J_BODY

Re: Stage VI users - 05/13/14 04:26 AM

http://www.moparts.org/Tech/Archive/bb/33.html

Posted By: TRENDZ

Re: Stage VI users - 05/13/14 04:39 AM

Yep. Had to use fabricated covers with mine to. Standard stamped or cast ones wont fit.

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Posted By: rebel

Re: Stage VI users - 05/14/14 09:16 AM

Quote:

Quote:

Don't mean to hijack, but anyone have any chamber pics for their stage 6 heads?

Thanks, Jeff

Mine look like this. They will definitely receive some attention before seeing service.

these are mine now they've been cleaned ready for reassembly, looking at the valve guide pedistal, i now realise how much mine have been ported.

Attached picture 8144226-2014-05-1321.52.45.jpg

Attached picture 8144226-2014-05-1321.52.45.jpg

Posted By: dragram440

Re: Stage VI users - 05/14/14 04:49 PM

Quote:

Quote:

Quote:

Don't mean to hijack, but anyone have any chamber pics for their stage 6 heads?

Thanks, Jeff

Mine look like this. They will definitely receive some attention before seeing service.

these are mine now they've been cleaned ready for reassembly, looking at the valve guide pedistal, i now realise how much mine have been ported.

This is a lot what mine look like other then the square notch around the spark plug, Any idea why that is in there? Mine is smooth blended into the chamber. Mine have been cut down to 73cc chambers.

Posted By: rebel

Re: Stage VI users - 05/15/14 07:49 AM

Quote:

This is a lot what mine look like other then the square notch around the spark plug, Any idea why that is in there? Mine is smooth blended into the chamber. Mine have been cut down to 73cc chambers.

no idea why they're like that, seems pretty dumb to me but then what do i know.

my heads are 72cc with that dumbass notch still there, i did consider grinding it out but i don't really want to loose any compression. maybe next rebuild i might load up on Jim Beam & get creative with the die grinder.

edit.
assembled the heads tonite, i think my oil releaving channels don't look bad when it's all together.

Attached picture 8145202-2014-05-1521.38.02.jpg

Attached picture 8145202-2014-05-1521.38.02.jpg

Posted By: dragram440

Re: Stage VI users - 05/17/14 06:38 PM

Quote:

Quote:

This is a lot what mine look like other then the square notch around the spark plug, Any idea why that is in there? Mine is smooth blended into the chamber. Mine have been cut down to 73cc chambers.

no idea why they're like that, seems pretty dumb to me but then what do i know. my heads are 72cc with that dumbass notch still there, i did consider grinding it out but i don't really want to loose any compression. maybe next rebuild i might load up on Jim Beam & get creative with the die grinder.

edit.
assembled the heads tonite, i think my oil releaving channels don't look bad when it's all together.

Your oil drain channels look much prettier then mine do. I wasnt going for looks!

Posted By: Dean_Kuzluzski

Re: Stage VI users - 05/18/14 02:35 PM

Quote:

Quote:

This is a lot what mine look like other then the square notch around the spark plug, Any idea why that is in there?

no idea why they're like that, seems pretty dumb to me but then what do i know.

Just a guess...........

That "notch" was probably created to position/optimize an extended tip sparkplug into the combustion chamber (just the electrode & tip) but due to the angle/design limits of packaging (where/if the plugs end up interferring with headers or cooling passages) the metal/aluminum would be too thin there (due to head milling) to capture/cover all the the threads of the plug. So, not a desired situation but an outcome of design priorities.